We’re doing some highly local due diligence on companies with job descriptions that discuss work-life balance options. This specific search was targeted around user experience / design positions. Here are five that caught our eye in the Potrero Hill / Mission Bay / Dogpatch area of San Francisco:
BloomThat is a flower delivery startup located in DogPatch. Their job description says: “Flexibility. Flexible work hours and open vacation policy.” We love it when companies actually write this in their job description because it contributes to the transparency of how they work. And for the record, we’ve loved their delivery service!
The Old Navy group of Gap, Inc., operates out of Mission Bay near UCSF. These guys are known for ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment), which values results over facetime. You will need to double check that the group you’re interviewing with actually practices ROWE.
Change.org is a social change platform that last year announced 18 weeks of paid leave for all new parents. Wow. Beyond that they offer five weeks of paid time off. No info provided on their site or job descriptions about if they work flexibly but the time off benefits are strong. Interesting company that’s all about affecting change globally.
Ancestry.com is on King Street near AT&T park, just of the Muni train stop — so technically not Potrero, but close! We came across this phrase in one of the job descriptions: “Tired of the treadmill? We have super interesting problems to solve, but we also honor a healthy work/life balance. Though occasionally we indulge in 24-hour hack-a-thons (optional), we normally keep very sane and fairly flexible work hours. After all, our business is based on strong family ties.” Lots of hand clapping for this one!
The social gaming company Zynga is also located in Potrero Hill. We’ve featured a couple great women at the company who have told us how they manage their schedule and also in one case they negotiated the flexibility before being hired. Their hiring managers are open to discussing flexibility during the hiring process, and we think this is huge.
